Country Manager - Georgia

Job Title: Country Manager

Location: Tbilisi, Georgia

Hours: Full time

Application deadline: 27 March 2023 (the role may be closed earlier if we find a suitable applicant)

Project: Countering and Tackling Gendered Disinformation

The Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) is implementing a new project focused on Countering and Tackling Gendered Disinformation as part of a consortium led by Zinc Network.  Working in three countries across Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucuses, the project seeks to:

1. Strengthen existing national partnerships and coordination efforts to respond to gendered disinformation;
2. Collaborate with and work through women and LGBT+ rights activists, women journalists and women and minority politicians targeted by these campaigns in response and prevention measures; and
3. Pilot intensive prevention interventions in order to start to generate evidence of “what works”.

The Project seeks a Country Manager (CM) for Georgia for our Countering and Tackling Gendered Disinformation Project, to be based out of IWPR’s registered representative office in Tbilisi. The CM will be the in-country lead for the Project, ensuring regular engagement with the client and coordinating and providing oversight of the grant funded activities of local Civil Society (CSO) partners. This position will be full-time and will report to the wider Project Director, with a dotted line relationship to IWPR’s Regional Director based in IWPR’s Tbilisi office.
 
Key responsibilities: 
 
Manage, monitor and coordinate the grant funded work of local CSO partners;

• As the in-country Point of Contact (PoC) with the client, ensure proactive and responsive engagement;
• Draft Monthly Progress Reports on grant funded activities;
• Develop and maintain robust relationships with key project stakeholders in country – CSOs, academics, Think Tanks, independent media, tech companies;
• Collate and analyse performance monitoring data on CSO grant funded activities and ensure timely submission to the Project MREL manager.
• Review grant applications and support grantees deliver activities/pilots;
• Coordinate the Call for Proposal cycles (three per year);
• Identify issues and risks associated with project implementation in a timely manner;
• Facilitate close collaboration and teamwork, including mentorship and development of local partners and staff;
• Ensure all aspects of implementation are conflict and gender sensitive.

Qualifications:

Sharing our enthusiasm for measurable impact and data-driven insight, you are an experienced project manager and communicator who is passionate about issues related to
women’s empowerment and promoting information integrity. Naturally, you have a high degree of rigor and experience of working with local CSO actors, attention to detail and the soft skills to successfully manage and coordinate the activities of local CSO partners. You also have:

• Extensive networks among CSOs and others actors working to promote women’s empowerment in Georgia.
• Experience of mainstreaming gender and conflict sensitivity across all aspects of project delivery.
• Experience of donor project management processes, tools and reporting standards.
• Experience of grant funded activities and the level of management oversight required.
• Knowledge of the challenges and opportunities relating to women’s empowerment and an understanding of gendered disinformation and its impact on women’s participation in the public sphere.
• A Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as international relations, organisational development, communications, media, political science, or digital media and communications. Master’s degree preferred.
• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible work experience of working with local CSO actors, particularly those focused on women’s rights and/or focused on promoting the rights of minorities and other marginalised groups.
• Outstanding written and verbal communications skills in English, including report writing. Fluency in English